Tuesday Changed Up

It was a busy day, but better than yesterday! We had a new owl poem, and tried to get as many students done the owl mini book as possible. There was some impetus for finishing by the idea they got to make a bat for the classroom when they were done!

After recess they did a science assessment on solids, liquids and gases, otherwise known as a cut and paste.

We also got back to our McCracken Spelling. I was going to go to sentences for the grade twos but when I went to get the McCracken book I realized there was still a lot more to cover so the grade two’s just picked up where they left off in June while the grade 1s started at the beginning.

We also had seven minutes to start a math game called Roll a Monster. They just got started and were super into it so I will try to fit it back in tomorrow.

This afternoon we actually got ten minutes of Centre time before they went off to music. My pre was super productive as I finally got the Halloween books out, got the duo-tangs ready for November/December and got the special helper calendar made for next month.

There was a meeting after school but I had already given my regrets as I had a long standing massage appointment, but then it was cancelled and I decided to just go home anyways. It was lovely!

I had spent my morning reading and finished Last Single Girl by Bria Quintana which was a cute, fast read. So after school I spent my time knitting. I had finished my Second Chance Shawl yesterday and today I have been working on my Halloween socks. I really want to work on shawlography, but the socks have to be done by Friday! I have about 36 rows to go so it shouldn’t be a problem to finish them tomorrow.

Finally tonight, run clinic returned🎊🎉. It was awesome to get out and run with other people. My group actually only had six people in it (and we all had to be double vaccinated to join). We did intervals- 60 seconds hard/60 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard/30 seconds easy and we did that for about twenty minutes. I stayed in second the whole time and it felt good to push myself to stay there!

It’s also nice that run clinic ends earlier than trivia did. I am home, showered and ready for bed at a decent time:)

Have fun!

AJ

Best Laid Plans

I don’t like when my best laid plans go awry! I had to have a procedure on Wednesday morning which caused me to be off work for the rest of the week. I had all these plans to get a massive amount of knitting done, but unfortunately, I learned that knitting moves your entire body:(. I have gotten a bit done, but nowhere near as much as I had hoped for!

I have finished one of my Halloween socks that I am knitting a stripe a day from Area51 Fibres and using the Heel Toe Do Si Doe pattern. I just started the second sock this morning and got the cuff done on it.

I am also up to date on the test knit I am working on for Char Knits right now. This is the Second Chance Shawl and is meant to be done with an advent calendar. Since I will only be getting my first yarn advent calendar this year, I found some cool grey with rainbows to stripe in. The knit is going well though the ten rows a day are starting to take much more time now that the shawl is over 300 stitches. I just worry that it might get too big for me.

I have also been working on Shawlography. This is the first Steven West design I have knitted and the first mystery knit a long I have done. I got the first clue done in the nick of time and so am trying to be more proactive with this clue. I have to admit I am actually procrastinating by writing this blog post because I’m at a part that I don’t really understand. I’m not giving up but I am having a break and a cup of tea and then will try again. I love how he does a video that guides you through each and every row! I’m going to have to watch closely for this one!

Reading wise I did a whole series this week by Evelyn Adams. It was really good because it had just a touch of thriller or mystery to them. Enough to be interesting but not enough to truly scare me:)

I have actually just started a new audiobook on Libby. It is The Husband List by Janet Evanovich. I am super enjoying it too!

Well, I will get back to shawlography now.

Have fun!

AJ

It’s Been Forever

Sorry about this- my life just doesn’t seem exciting enough- I go to work, I run and I sleep.

I had blood work done this week and sure enough my iron is dropping rapidly. It’s thankfully almost at the point where they will begin thinking about doing g something about it. Hopefully by the new year I’ll be more energetic.

I did get to have Thanksgiving dinner last night. I went to my teaching buddy Liane’s house. It was awesome! They had enough food for about a million people🤣 I took this Broccoli salad from Minimalist Baker. It was super yummy and very easy to make.

I stayed up way too late and then had to get up early to make banana bread for a friend who has been in hospital. I used this Banana bread from Minimalist Baker. Again it was very easy to make and I hope it tasted good.

I did get an easy run in with Sarah at the river today. It was a gorgeous day so we couldn’t resist hitting the trails.

With being so tired, the only other thing I got done today were some groceries picked up. The rest of the day I read and knitted.

Right now I have a lot of daily knitting. I do a stripe on my October socks which I am using an Area51 halloween half skein for, but I also have to do one section on the Second Chance Shawl which I am test knitting. After those two projects, I move on to working on clue one of the west knits kal- shawlography. I need to be done by Friday so we will see if that happens.

Reading wise I read Falling Free by Evelyn Adams and really enjoyed it so now I am reading the second book in the series.

Mostly I am trying to stay awake until 8pm🤣

Have fun!

AJ

Lovely Day

It was Truth and Reconciliation Day here today. This is a new federal stat holiday to observe Orange Shirt Day which honors those Indigenous people who have been after by residential schools.

I really feel like I observed it yesterday as we had an assembly about it, talked about it, read about it and did art about it with the kids yesterday. I have to admit it was nice to have a slower day today!

I was awake way earlier than I expected, though it was still a sleep in from my regular time. I put the time to good use and got my bathroom cleaned, my floors swept, vacuumed and mopped and my living room tidied.

At that point it was time to leave for my run. It wasn’t a great run:(. It was pouring rain, like bucketing down, I ran too fast and my legs were tired from my workout yesterday so I took way too many breaks and my watch lost GPS signal so my fast speed wasn’t even recorded. Needless to say I was happy to be done with the hilly park and to go for tea!

I dropped Dennis off and then had lunch and tidied a bit more. It was then time to sit down and read while I waited for Brenda to arrive for knit group. I decided to take advantage of my extra day off and fill it with my favourite things- running, reading and knitting.

I have been reading a series called Lighter Ones by Aleatha Romig. Just like the series title implies these are fluffy and low angst, which I am appreciating right now. I am on the third in the series and the second was definitely better than the first, but for a light, fluffy read that’s a little spicy I would recommend them.

Brenda arrived and I had a goal to finish my sample knit today. I only had the last ribbed border to go. I got five rows in and then moved to my nephew’s Musselburgh hat as I’m trying to get that done too. Unfortunately the brambles section of the sample knit just kept not looking right. I am knitting the Solstice Rose Cowl by Justin’s Lorkowska. I ripped it back to the garter ridge before the brambles after Brenda went home and reknit it. I’m not sure it looks any better, but that’s how it’s staying. Maybe I’m too easy going about mistakes to be a sample knitter😥

I am back to where I was this morning and have the last ribbed border to go and an I-cord bind off, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I will also take my Musselburgh back to school with me and try to get a bit more done. I am on the last colour!

I have enjoyed this slower day of all my favourite things and just hope tomorrow goes smoothly and quickly as I have something fun to look forward to on Saturday!!

Have fun!

AJ

Don’t know where the week has gone

I’m not sure where the week has gone. I think I spent most of it watching knitting podcasts while throwing a ball for an anxious, sad puppy. We survived and I am back home.

Today was very quiet. I slept late and still got a run in as it was cool. It seems as though our Fall weather has arrived. It’s been gray and cool all day here. My run was an easy 3km and it felt good. I spent the second half really trying to concentrate on pushing off my toes. I’m going to need to do some reading on how to engage my butt while running.

I came home and immediately did my workout too. It was a thirty minute push workout from Nourish Move Love and I can tell you that I’m going to feel it tomorrow. That’s a good thing in my mind.

I have to admit that other than doing laundry I have done nothing else today. I have been reading a series of books by Lea Coll called All I Want. It’s a good series and I’ve been enjoying them even if they are just fluff. I always seem to get sucked into the series that revolve around a friend group- they seem so fun. I would recommend the series even though I spend some of the book yelling at the main female character 🤣

Well I’m on the last book so I’m going back to it.

Have fun!

AJ

Resting Up

It was another hot day here today and I have three things happening tomorrow so I decided to lay around today.

I started the day with my minimum run and then immediately did my ab workout and yoga that was called for in the Nourish Move Love workout plan so that I would get them done!

Other than that I have done a little knitting. I had finished a sock but it was slightly long so I pulled it out and am almost done it again. I also got about two inches of body knitted on my current sweater.

I have spent the rest of the day reading. They have all just been fun books so nothing really to report.

Oh I also ordered some mail product. I am hoping that it will help strengthen my nails which are so incredibly weak, but I guess we shall see when it all arrives.

I’m going to bed now as I have a early run in the morning.

Have fun!

AJ

TriviaTuesday

It was a busy day!

I started the day with a run with Dennis. We went around a very hilly local park but I had a pretty good pace. The best part was the cute guy behind us for the first little bit.

I went directly from tea to a bike ride with my friend Em. It was a lovely day out on the dykes. It was just a leisurely ride, but lovely!

I came home from my bike ride and had a nice nap.

I actually spent most of the day reading a book. It was Real Kind of Love by Sara Rider. I really enjoyed this book and it’s been a while since I’ve read a book in one sitting. It is light and fluffy and a great summer read. I may just get the second in the series.

This afternoon I got my workout done- another NourishMoveLove. It was the 15 Minute Total Body Strength that I think I’m going to feel tomorrow!

Amazingly, for the first time since February, trivia was on. We still aren’t allowed to move from our table, but it was nice to have some normal.

From the first round:

Who has played the grumpy guy in The Odd Couple?

Walter Matthau,Jack Klugmann, Matthew Perry

Name the number one brand in Canada of Ket Chu up, Mustard and Relish.

Heinz, French’s, Bics

Finish this phrase:

Sticky——-

Fingers

What does HVAC stand for?

Heating, ventilation, Air a conditioning

What two states other than Washington border BC?

Idaho, Montana

Name the three tenors:

Pavarotti, Carreras, Felliciano

What does HMCS stand for?

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship

In the music round I only knew the country songs:

Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off- Joe Nichols

In Kahoot I was pushing the buttons with my back to the screen so I don’t even know the questions that were asked.

In the fourth round:

Put these shows in order of when they came on the air:

Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends

What does TNA in wrestling stand for?

Total Non Stop Action

Well I have to go home to bed cause I have a busy day tomorrow.

Have fun!

AJ

Ahead of Schedule

Today was another very quiet day for me.

I started the day meeting up with Sarah and Dennis for a run. I had to do at least 3km and instead we did just over 6km. I was wondering if I should cancel one of the three kilometer runs I have planned this month, but for now I’m just going to run and I’ll see how the month plays out. I am sure there will be days that I can’t run later on.

I grabbed some groceries on the way home. I had told myself I wouldn’t go back to the grocery store until Thursday but since I was just buying fruits and veggies, I gave myself a pass to go today.

I immediately did my workout as I really didn’t want to. It was a 35 minute workout from NourishMoveLove that had me sweating a ton. I really hope I see results from all this working out!

Other than a nap, I have spent the day knitting in circles on my Rock It Tee. It’s a weird project because while it is the usual mindless knitting of stockinette in the round, it’s not portable because I am changing yarn every eight rounds. I am definitely going to need to intersperse something more interesting! I am loving how it looks so far though!

I finished listening to my audiobook, Ultra Marathon Man. It was about Dean Karnazes and was quite interesting. I have absolutely no interest in pushing my body as far as he does!

I did push myself this evening to do some foam rolling and yoga though. I have been enjoying having slightly looser legs so I will try to keep this up!

I also got some cross stitching done today and got one of the window panels done🎊🎉

I have also started a new book and am loving it so I am going back to reading.

I promise tomorrow will be more interesting:)

Have fun!

AJ

A Busy Bee

I always find it interesting how some days I feel like doing nothing and other days I go non-stop.

I started the day with an easy run to the park and back. I am trying really hard to slow down some days and run easy so that I don’t hurt myself running everyday. So far it seems to be going pretty well.

I quickly ate breakfast so I would be ready to order my yarn advent calendar at exactly 8am. This advent calendar is put out by Stash Lounge in Calgary, Alberta and features 25 different Canadian yarn dyers. It seemed like a really good way to try out a bunch of different dyers. I had better stop shopping for a while though!

I then got picked up by Dennis for a bike ride. I chose for us to go from the bridge to Osprey Village, but I should have picked the other way as this one had more hills than I remembered! My bike is still not going into first and something seems to be rubbing. It also takes forever to move from 2nd gear to 3rd. I do notice that I am calmer on the bike though which is a good thing. I’ll just keep making myself go out so I keep getting more comfortable!

After a well- deserved tea after 20km, I came home and watched the newest Crazy Sock Lady vlog. She talked about scrubbing her shower so that inspired me to try cleaning my tub and surround. I hope it worked, but I’ll inspect tomorrow during my shower.

I also got all my recent yarn purchases put into my Ravelry stash.

I worked out to the newest NourishMoveLove workout. It was a leg workout using the mini band and I was once again a hot, sweaty mess by the end of it. Her workouts are definitely a challenge. I just hope they’re doing something for me!

In knitting, I finished my brioche cowl.

This was made out of Perle yarn in two different colours. This yarn is from my grandma’s stash and is so old it came from Woodward’s. That store hasn’t been around since I was a little kid. I used the Brilicious pattern off of Ravelry and found it very easy. It only used up one of the four balls so I may make a second one to use up more. I think I might try it a little smaller in circumference, but taller so it will be extra warm inside my coat.

This afternoon I finished listening to Knit to Kill by Anne Canadeo. It was an easy listen and nothing earth shattering, but I still enjoyed it. I thought it was the first in the series, but it is actually the 9th. That does explain a bit of the dialogue in the book.

I have done some rolling and yoga as I am really trying to keep being consistent with this practice this year. I know it’s important to not getting injured, so I’m making it a priority.

I am back knitting on my second sock that I started yesterday in the hopes that I will be done by Sunday when I get my next sock pattern.

Well, I think I’ve done enough today and I’ll just sit and knit until it’s an appropriate time to sleep. I did have a nap this afternoon since it has been very hot here again today, but I still don’t think I’ll make it to very late. I wonder how much sleep it would take to get rid of the bags under my eyes?

Have fun?

AJ

Long Weekend Wrap Up

It’s so lovely having that third day off, even if it is raining. I wish I had a third day every week!

Exercise:

I have done my FitOn class each day and actually threw in an extra stretching class today. I figure I need all the yoga I can get. I sat down Friday night and figured out my mileage for the month and it got me out the door for 3km on Saturday morning and another 10km on Sunday. Sarah didn’t come so it was nice to push the pace a bit and my heart rate didn’t go insane🎊🎉

Socializing:

I met up with my friend Emily on Saturday and did some shopping. It was nice to spend time with her and to pick up some items I had been wanting, but there were still too many people around the outdoor shopping centre for my liking. I am starting to wonder if I’ll ever get comfortable with crowds again?!?!

I picked up a running visor which is camo, not black like I thought, but I’ll live with it. I also got some gifts, new underwear and a new straw hat. I think I’m most excited about the straw hat!

On Sunday, I went with Brenda to a local yarn shop for a private shopping appointment. I got the buttons for my Bentley cardigan which is all I need to finish that project and I got some interchangeable needle accessories. Of course I couldn’t leave without yarn, especially when I saw that Fibre Co Road to China was on sale! This yarn is alpaca, silk, camel and cashmere put together into the softest yarn you’ll ever feel! The skeins are small, but I snagged two blues that I am hoping to put together into a cowl or maybe I’ll make two cowls. I am desperate to knit with this, but won’t let myself until I get the test knit socks done. Oh and the bowl my running buddy wants to store his cleaning supplies in his trunk.

Most of my weekend was spent crafting. You may have seen my stitching yesterday which is coming along well. I have also finished a pair of socks this weekend.

This is the Raspberry Cordial socks pattern by Lisa Ross done in Knit Picks Stroll in Hollyberry. I followed the pattern, except for putting in Knitting Expat’s German Short Row Heel as I couldn’t understand the heel in the pattern. I feel like there may have been a typo. I did learn that I absolutely love the stroll yarn and wish I had it in every colour! I do wish I had knitted the leg longer to use up the skein however!

I have also been working on the shawl and am solidly in the mosaic section now. I am trying to do two rows per day, but I seriously have to concentrate and say every stitch to avoid making mistakes.

Reading:

While I have been stitching I have been listening to audiobooks from the library. I am sure that my data provider is happy about this! I have just finished listening to Persuade Me by Juliet Archer. It is a take off of Persuasion by Jane Austen which is my favorite Jane Austen book so I couldn’t resist. It was a well done version, however I think it would be better to read as then you could gloss over the parts where the book is trying too hard to be romantic.

I finished another book, but the fact I don’t remember the name doesn’t bode well for it. I am actually reading a book off of my TBR finally and can’t wait to get back to it, so hopefully I will have another recommendation for you soon.

House:

I did get a few things done around the house. I got the laundry and dishes done and I went out this morning and put air in my car tires and washed my car as I thought I’d be going car shopping today. Alas my brother said it was too mucky. I am trying to downsize my vehicle and since I would keep putting it off I have given myself a timeline of August. I saw a little Toyota Yaris and want to go sit in it to find out if that really is what I want.

Well I’m going to wrap this up and go back to my book.

Have fun!

AJ